How do I earn envoys?

[Jake Savage]

Do do I get them? As I want to send some off to city states

[Corum]

From the official manual:

Originally posted by Firaxis Games:

There are three ways to earn Envoys:

• Civics Some Civics, particularly ones that are not on the “main path” of the tree, award an Envoy as soon as they are finished. Later Civics will award multiple Envoys.
  
• Quests City-States can broadcast quests which allow you to earn free Envoys at the City-State. The number of Envoys rewarded depends on quest type and game progression. Quests are always assigned to individual players, and only to players that have at least one Envoy already in place. The type of City-State determines which quests are more likely to be given.
  
• Governments Governments, and some policies in a government, contribute “influence points” which award Envoys to spend once a threshold is reached.

Also, if you're the first civilisation to encounter a city-state you'll be awarded a free envoy to that city-state automatically.